The Project
Significance
The Yuba River is one of the last strongholds for wild salmon and steelhead runs in California’s Central Valley. The historic impact of placer and hydraulic mining during the 19th century resulted in a radically altered, diverted and devastated river system. These physical changes to the river have caused a decline in available habitat to support a healthy salmon fishery and have also impacted the riparian corridor and other ecosystem services provided by watershed.
Many restoration efforts in the Lower Yuba River exist; however, there has been little quantification of the benefits of these restoration actions. The strategies and costs of river restoration are well defined, but the ecosystem benefits of alternative approaches are not fully understood. In an effort to strengthen the salmon fishery and produce additional ecosystem services in the system, this project aims to develop a framework for evaluating and quantifying the benefits of different restoration strategies to the overall health of the river system. This prioritization approach will be used as an economic guide to the costs and overall benefits associated with possible restoration strategies within the Yuba River watershed.
Objectives
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Characterize current conditions (geomorphic, hydrologic, and biotic) on the Lower Yuba River by examining the river’s history of anthropogenic impacts as well as restoration efforts.
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Develop a framework that allows for the prioritization of physical restoration scenarios on the basis of net environmental benefits for Lower Yuba River.
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Estimate costs of implementing restoration under each scenario.
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Quantify local and regional benefits of restoring the Lower Yuba River under various restoration scenarios. The benefits to be quantified will be increases in adjacent housing values and a variety of ecosystem services provided by the river system, which include flood damage reduction and recreation.
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Perform a cost-benefit analysis under the various restoration scenarios.
